What the F is going on with all this stuff lately?  It seems bizarre.

This is indeed a crap decision!

He is not the only politician to let the side down on the environment, and this one should know better. It looks like from this interview that Steven Chu is unlikely to make a fuss over the Keystone XL pipeline. Watch him squirm around the questions here, trying to avoid saying he approves or disaproves. Who says a scientist can't be a politician?  I think we can assume there will be no opposition from him or anyone else in the cabinet either.

Chu, who spoke to energyNOW! on the sidelines of yesterday's National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, NV, stopped short of predicting the outcome of the State Department’s pipeline review. However, he said Canada’s oil-sands industry is “making great strides in improving the environmental impact of the extraction of this oil.”

http://www.energynow.com/video/2011/08/31/chu-says-us-energy-security-trade-off-favors-oil-sands-pipeline

[Hint: its the oil money that could bomb the demos out of the next election. ie Citzens United Supreme Court decision 2010]

(Corrected Sept 3)

U.S. Awash in Oil and Lies, Report Charges
By Stephen Leahy

People from all over the U.S. walk to the White House to stage a sit-in.  Credit:tarsandsaction/creative commons license

UXBRIDGE, Canada, Sep 2, 2011 (IPS) - With four times as many oil rigs pumping domestic oil today than eight years ago and declining domestic demand, the United States is awash in oil. 

"This is the first wise environmental decision this Administration has taken." 

Steve Hayward is the the author of Air Quality in America 

Desmogblog says much the same about the pipeline

http://www.desmogblog.com/reality-check-new-keystone-xl-report-blows-steven-chu-s-energy-security-claim

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s no putting lipstick on this pig.

Today, President Obama scrapped important smog limits aimed at preventing asthma in kids and lung damage in adults. According to the EPA, the standards the president overruled would have saved 12,000 lives, including many children’s.

Adding insult to injury, President Obama said asking corporations to act responsibly is too much of a ‘burden,’ even though studies show responsible environmental protections spur investment in clean technology and create jobs.

Click here to join me in telling President Obama that he must enforce the Clean Air Act -- that it is unacceptable to make kids sick in order to protect polluter profits.

Thank you,

Nick Berning
Friends of the Earth

P.S. We need to show President Obama that this matters. After signing your petition, please ask your friends and family to do the same. It’s time the president realized that he can’t keep kowtowing to corporations and ignoring what’s best for people.

This would make a great cartoon. Have a little dog with Obama's head on it, and a cigar-smoking villian (aka the corporations) ordering the dog, to roll over, shake hands and play dead. Or something along those lines. It's essentially what Obama is. 

 Environmental groups are not happy with the White House for pulling back proposed smog standards. Neither are many liberals; MoveOn.org released a statement saying that “thousands are likely to die because the President caved to big polluters” and “many MoveOn members are wondering today how they can ever work for President Obama's re-election, or make the case for him to their neighbors, when he does something like this.

Source: The Fix, Washington Post, Sep 2, 2011

Dear John,

Earlier today president Obama announced his decision to shelve a major EPA regulation aimed at tightening smog standards. This was done at the behest of the polluting industry and their allies in Congress.

I hope you'll join me in calling on the President to reverse this terrible decision immediately, and tell him the public supports stronger health standards.

In his statement, the President said his commitment to to public health protections is 'unwavering', but capitulating to the American Petroleum Institute and John Boehner seems to move from 'wavering' to 'quivering', and it needs to stop.

There's no question about the rationale here. Big oil refused to change. In their study on the smog rule, the EPA said the rule would cost $90 billion, and would generate $100 billion in benefits for the same time period.

Don't be fooled, it's not jobs they want, or the economy they care about. The oil industry wants that money in their pockets, no matter the damage to your health.

Please tell Obama not to cave to the cynical 'politics-as-usual', and to back the smog rule.

Thank you for your time, and have a great weekend.

Dan Stafford
Environmental Action Organizer

Industry Victory: Obama Withdraws EPA's Stricter Smog Standards

AUGUSTA, Maine - September 2 - “For two years the Administration dragged its feet by delaying its decision, unnecessarily putting lives at risk. Its final decision not to enact a more protective ozone health standard is jeopardizing the health of millions of Americans, which is inexcusable,” said Jeffrey Seyler, President and CEO of the American Lung Association of New England. “The American Lung Association now intends to revive its participation in litigation with the Administration, which was suspended following numerous assurances that the Administration was going to complete this reconsideration and obey the law. We had gone to court because the Bush Administration failed to follow the law and set a protective health standard.”

Press Release

Krugman explains why aside from being a horrible decision from an environmental and political standpoint, this was also a horrible decision from an economic standpoint.

Basically the only reason for Obama to make this decision was fear that if he didn't, Republicans would attack him.  Because they're not going to attack him now, right?

Once again Obama shows that he's a horrible and spineless "leader."